Industry Technologies
It is a little-known fact that the needle was one of humankind’s first tools. Over the centuries it developed from a simple craft item to a precision tool for modern sewing machines and has constantly been adapted for new industrial applications and requirements. The use of sewing machines today does not stop at garments and furnishings but is equally important for automotive, aerospace, marine interiors, airbags, and industrial and recreational sectors meeting high technical safety standards. The sewing needle has played a major part in the development of our civilization and our standard of living.
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Ancient sewing needles
The most ancient sewing needles, which date back to 28,000 BC, did not have an eye but a split end that gripped the thread to be sewn (often raffia, gut, or sinew). Needles from later than 17,500 BC already had the two features characteristic of the hand-sewing needle today – the eye at one end and the tapering point at the other end. They were made from the materials available to human society at the time, for example, bones and antlers.
The sinking of the sea level during the last lce Age around 14,000 BC (Wisconsin, USA) forms a bridge of land between the Asian and American continents. Man used this bridge and settled in America. This trek through ice and snow would have been impossible without the correct clothing. The needle made this possible and tolerable.
As people acquired skills in working metal materials, needles were also made from metal (Bronze Age approximately 7,000 BC), first from copper, and later from iron or bronze. Although there is no positive evidence as to the precise design of these needles, excellent pieces of embroidery from the pre-Christian era suggest that they were probably fashioned almost to perfection. Unfortunately, the articles made with these needles were only partially preserved and there are barely any traces of the needles themselves. This is largely explained by the effect of oxidation, which destroys metallic needles after a short time. Even needles made during the 19th century are now rarely found intact.
In 1845 Elias Howe (USA) invented a double chainstitch sewing machine. The machine used a slightly curved, eye-pointed needle. The bottom thread was in a shuttle. The fabric was transported past the needle on a spiked belt. Howe's sewing principle is the basis for the success of the sewing machine.
Basic needle formThe basic form of the hand-sewing needle remained the same, though the degree of tapering and the variation of the diameter over the length of the needle were slightly altered over time. To be able to make comparisons, one must study the needle from its very point to just below the needle's eye. Although the eye and the point have moved closer together, the basic functional elements of the needle, remain unaltered.
The invention of the sewing machine gave rise to the development of the sewing machine needle. In 1496 Leonardo da Vinci constructed a machine to point sewing needles.
Apprentices from Schmetz rebuilt this machine in 1952 from the original drawings. The machine worked except for a couple of limitations. (Photo: Schmetz Guide To Sewing Techniques)
In 1755 a German named Weisenthal thought that he had found the prerequisite for machine sewing in his development of a two-point needle. This needle form was also used later on by others and it is even used today in modern industrial machines for sewing shank buttons or for imitating hand-made seams. An Englishman called Saint used a so-called hook needle or protruding needle similar to today’s crochet needle for his machine designed in 1790. Even today, hook needles are used in some single-chain, drop-stitch embroidery, saddle-stitch, and linking machines. Both types of needles, however, were of little importance for the further development of the sewing machine needle.
Krems sewing machine eye-point needle Around 1800 Balthasar Krems from Mayen, Germany used a needle, for the first time, which had the eye moved close to the point. One should particularly appreciate this invention because one feature that looks so simple to us today was a sensation at that time. This eye-point needle paved the way for the mechanization of sewing worldwide.
Since then, the sewing machine needle has been developed into the form known today. The needle has accomplished its transition from a hand tool to the precision tool of the sewing machine needle.
Krems sewing machine eye-point needle Around 1800 Balthasar Krems from Mayen, Germany used a needle, for the first time, which had the eye moved close to the point. One should particularly appreciate this invention because one feature that looks so simple to us today was a sensation at that time. This eye-point needle paved the way for the mechanization of sewing worldwide.
Since then, the sewing machine needle has been developed into the form known today. The needle has accomplished its transition from a hand tool to the precision tool of the sewing machine needle.
